Friday, October 24, 2008

Korea Festival 2008- Korean music concert

I guess most of you should know by now that there will be a Korean Festival in early November. For such a major event, you would have thought that it would have been all planned and organised long ago. Sigh...still, the website, Korea Festival 2008 is finally up and about. With less than 2 weeks to the event, it's about time too.

There are various activities being organised- from movies, to singing contest to cultural dance and even a golf tournament. And then, there's the concert. A proper K Pop concert. Ok, so it's not Superbowl or Seoul concert but still, to have any Korean pop concert here at all is already a big deal. So obviously, that's the one event that has all us excited and hyper.

Except...it seems near impossible to get hold of the tickets. The organiser, The Korean Embassy has decided that the tickets will not sold. Rather, they are being distributed via the sponsors and various media contests like the Korean radio channel- Cool K Time and the newspaper like My Paper. Maybe they feel that it would reach out to more people this way?

I'm not against getting the tickets via the above methods but seriously, it would be so much easier for everyone if they just sell them. For most of us who are working, where on earth do we find the time to look out for these contests? Besides, it doesn't guarantee me a seat at all.

Sigh...guess I'll just have to wait to see if there will be a miracle for me. Of course, I can always 'buy' the tickets. At the last check, these 'free' tickets were going at $300 for a pair. For those of you who have already managed to get the tickets, I am so jealous...especially as there are a few artistes I would really like to watch like VOS, Kim Joong Wook and most of all, Jun Jin.

Looking at the list of artistes, most of them are very young, and many of them are new or up and coming. The few veteran ones are Chae Yeon, Andy, Jun Jin and Jewelry. In fact, some I've never heard of before until this concert. Did anyone notice that they are all below the age of 30?

Andy Lee

Andy will be hosting the concert together with Park Jeong Ah of Jewelry. He released his very 1st full album at the beginning of the year. Amongst all the Shinhwa members, I have the least impression of him, and err.... his song didn't make much of impact on me either. But he is surprisingly, one of the most active, acting in dramas, theatre stage play and hosting music shows. But I still prefer Jun Jin. Hehe!

Jun Jin was the first Shinhwa member to capture my attention in the drama, "Legend of 9 Tail Wolves" and as a result, I became interested in the group. I was really thrilled to have watched them performed live last year. Jun Jin also released his 1st album this year and created a stir because his WA mv was banned on air (I think....did it pass through in the end?).

Truth be told, I was never keen on Wonder Girls. But then again, I was never keen on most of the girl groups. Their style seemed similar to me (the same can be said about many of the boy groups too). Under JYP management (who used to manage Rain), I must say The Wonder Girls have been making much progress. And I certainly like their current hit song, 'Nobody'. I especially like the mv. ^^

A singer, who's known for her sexy image (actually, almost all the female singers seemed to portray either a sexy or cute image..depending on their age). I know quite a few Korean men like her. Chae Yeon has been around for a long time, though Lee Hyo Ri seemed to be a little more prominent than her. But that's just my own personal opinion. Can't say I've really noticed her songs before, so this concert would be a good time for me (and certainly many others) to get to know her better.

This girl group can be considered as a veteran already as they've been around since 2001. But out of the 4 original members, 2 of them have been replaced twice. Only Park Jeong Ah and Seo In Young are the orginal members. It's really difficult to stay in the entertainment scene. Park Jeong Ah will be hosting the concert together with Andy. Actually both Park Jeong Ah and Seo In Young have their own solo careers, just like the members from Shinhwa. Seo In Young is currently hosting KBS' Music Bank show (err...don't hit me but her hosting skills leave much to be desired) and I believe she also has a song on the music chart. Park Jeong Ah has released one album so far but she seems to be venturing more into acting. From what I read, she's rather popular, so it would be interesting to see her host the concert.

Not to be confused with Kim Jong Kook (Gosh..all these artistes have similar names!). Kim Jong Wook also released his 1st album this year. But he seems to be doing quite well and has even teamed up with SG Wannabe to sing the theme song for the hot drama, 'East of Eden'. I rather like his voice and am definitely looking forward to watch him perform...if I can get that elusive ticket.

This is not a new group but I only took notice of them recently. Probably because their first 2 albums didn't produce any hits for them. But they are solid singers, and it would be fantastic to watch them perform live!

Originally part of a big (13 members!) boy group under JYP, 2Pm debutted this year (actually, literally a couple of months ago). Not sure why there is a craze for big groups now in Korea. Just like Super Junior, this has been split into 2AM and 2PM. Errr...I'm assuming they are called 2 o'clock if all 13 performed together. Anyway, there are 7 members in 2PM. And from what I see from their mv for their 1st single, all super hyper and all super young- which made me super dizzy.

Didn't know about this group until this concert. But then, it's not surprising as there are 1,001 singers in Korea. The competition is really tough and often, many of them spend years training before the they even debut. And some of them may not even make it too. 2 of the members from U Kiss were orginally from the group, Xing (another boy band lah). Don't ask me which 2 coz I am totally having a headache with all these groups. The boys all look alike to me leh.

Again, another new singer, well at least to me anyway. From what little I know (which is very little), I think he grew up in Australia. Makes a change as most of the Koreans seems to grow up in the States.

As the concert date grows nearer, I'm beginning to see some trickling of the tickets being offered by various media. But hor, like they say, there are about 6,000 seats available, but most them seemed to be offering only 5 pairs per draw..so what's happening to the rest of the tickets. And though sponsors like LG are offering the tickets if you buy the phone, I have yet to see any strong promotion from them about it..so my question is...how many phones will they be able to sell in the end?

Anyway, just to note, the radio station, Yes93.3 will also be giving away tickets. It should be this Sunday on Li Yi's 哈本营 at 10pm.

Kozine, the Korean/ English magazine is also giving away free tickets. You can check out more details on their website here here. There are only 5 pairs though...so good luck!

I'm going to be really crossing my fingers and toes....

pssst... I heard Jewelry will be having a fan meeting. Crossing my fingers for the others too. There is an ongoing forum at soompi here